Arsenal need a striker and a left winger, and everyone in N5 knows it. But January is rarely a window for doing both, so if Andrea Berta can only land one forward this winter, it should be the man on the left, not a new No.9.
That sounds strange for a side whose problem is goals. Arsenal sit top of the Premier League on 27 points after ten games, yet the 1-0 win over Hull City was their sixth single-goal victory of the campaign. Nobody is worried about the defence or a midfield built around Declan Rice and Bruno Guimarães. The worry is the final third.
So why not go straight for the striker? Because of how Mikel Arteta wants his team to play, and because of where the squad was left short in the summer.
Why not just buy both?
In an ideal world, Arsenal would. Gary Neville said after the Hull game that Arteta’s side need “that world-class striker up front, and maybe a player off the left as well”, and we looked at why Neville is right about Havertz and Gyokeres not being enough on their own to win the Champions League.
The trouble is the market. Mid-season deals are expensive, the clubs holding the best players are under no pressure to sell, and two big attacking signings in one winter would be a huge outlay on top of the summer spending on Guimarães and Ezri Konsa. Realistically, January means one forward at most. That forces a choice.
The case for a centre-forward
It is not a weak one. Viktor Gyokeres arrived with a reputation as one of the most prolific strikers in Europe, and Kai Havertz does so much off the ball that Arteta trusts him in the biggest games. Neither, though, has made the No.9 shirt his own, and too many good moves still end with a blocked shot or a pass that never arrives.
A proper 25-goal striker would change how opponents defend Arsenal. That is the dream. But it only works if the team is built to feed him, and right now it isn’t.
Why the left wing matters more in Arteta’s Arsenal
The system doesn’t feed a No.9
Arteta’s Arsenal do not play like the sides that hand their striker six or seven chances a game. They control possession, they take very few risks, and the chances are shared around. Gyokeres is often dragged deep or wide to link play rather than sitting on the last defender, and plenty of the best openings fall to whoever arrives late.
Arteta himself said after Hull that his side “need to be more efficient” and are at times “trying to score the perfect goal”. His answer was to be “more chaotic” and to generate volume. A world-class striker would not fix that on his own. He would be waiting for service that the system is not designed to give him, and an expensive No.9 starved of the ball is a very Arsenal way to waste money.
The gap on the left is real
The summer left one flank badly short. Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard were both sold, and Christos Tzolis, signed from Club Brugge, was the only attacker to come in. Eberechi Eze has been used more and more on the left, but he is not an out-and-out winger, and his best work comes from a more central position.
The other side is stretched too. Bukayo Saka is still working back from the quad injury he picked up against Bayern Munich, and Noni Madueke has been holding things together on both wings. One more injury out wide and Arteta is picking from very little. Max Dowman is a huge talent, but he is 16, still serving his ban from the Fleetwood game and away with England’s under-21s this month.
Arteta asks his wingers to run back
This is the part that settles it. Nobody plays wide for Arteta without doing the hard yards out of possession, and a winger who scores, creates and tracks back would walk into this team. The right one would give Arsenal goals from the left, a runner who takes people on rather than recycling the ball, and cover for Saka when he needs a rest.
A striker can be brought in later and built around. A left winger who fits the pressing and the defensive work would make the existing forwards better straight away, because Gyokeres and Havertz would finally have someone delivering into the box from both sides.
Who is actually available in January?
Not many of the obvious names, and that is the catch. Arsenal have tracked Antonio Nusa for some time, and the Norway winger has started the season with four goals and six assists in his first eight Bundesliga games. But Leipzig have him under contract until 2029 and no reason to sell mid-season, which is why we think Nusa to Arsenal looks like a summer job.
Atletico Madrid are not expected to sell Alex Baena in the winter either, and the figure being mentioned for next summer is at least €80m. Up front, Bournemouth do not plan to sell Eli Junior Kroupi, who is valued at around €100m, and Arsenal are still waiting to see how Real Madrid’s Endrick gets on. Most of the names from Arsenal’s summer shortlist are just as hard to buy now.
That means any January move will probably come from the second tier of targets, and that is another reason to aim at the wing. A good winger who fits the system is easier to find than a ready-made, world-class No.9, and there are far fewer of those in the world than there are clubs wanting one.
Verdict: Arsenal’s January transfer should be a left winger
If Arsenal could have both, they should. If it has to be one, the left wing is the bigger need and the better fit. It covers the hole Martinelli and Trossard left, protects the right side while Saka is out, and gives Gyokeres and Havertz the service they have been missing.
The striker can wait for the summer, when the market is calmer and Arsenal can build the attack around him properly. For now, the title race is about winning games by more than one goal, and a winger who can beat a man and deliver is the quickest way to get there.
